CBO Finds Senate Immigration Bill Grows Economy and Cuts Deficit

House Bucks Senate Bill and Advances Racial Profiling Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. —The Senate “Gang of 8” bipartisan immigration bill would reduce the federal budget deficit and grow the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) from 2014 to 2033, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The second decade of the program is the period when many of the current 11 million undocumented immigrants would become citizens if they meet certain rigorous conditions throughout the long and arduous 13-year road.

As the CBO released its cost estimate of the Senate bill, members of the House of Representatives showed their contempt for aspiring citizens by advancing through the House Judiciary Committee a severe racial profiling bill under the guise of immigration reform. An amendment that passed in the committee would also dismantle the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which temporarily halted deportation proceedings for young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children without documents.

“The CBO proved what we have been saying all along: Enacting commonsense immigration reform that creates a road to citizenship isn’t just the moral thing to do, it’s also the fiscally responsible thing to do.” said Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center (NILC). “Legislation that allows aspiring citizens to live in safe and healthy environments will help our country grow and prosper, in keeping with our national values.”

“Today’s CBO news stands in stark contrast to a House bill championed by Reps. Goodlatte and Gowdy that would create an unfunded and costly mandate for local law enforcement to detect, detain, and aid in the deportation of immigrants who could be here without proper authorization,” Hincapié added.

Instead of offering a balanced immigration solution, the House is prioritizing racial profiling and considering two other bills. Together, these three House bills are “the most harmful and counterproductive bills ever introduced on immigration,” stated a letter to House members by 133 immigration advocacy groups, including NILC.

Salt Lake City, UT, Police Chief Chris Burbank also issued a statement opposing the House racial profiling bill and efforts by some in the Senate to force local police to engage in immigrant detection and detention. “These tactics aren’t just political theater; they threaten public safety across our nation by making members of immigrant and Latino communities reluctant to come forward as victims of, or witnesses to, crime,” Burbank said.

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